Brooklyn prepares for scares

Gearing up for the second annual Spooky Nights, the Brooklyn Recreation Department has needed a small army of volunteers, the Department of Public Works and weeks of preparation.

“A group of us figured we’ve put in 2,000 hours, and that’s being safe,” said Steve Phillips, a volunteer and a member of the town’s recreation commission. “By the end of the week, we’ll be closer to 3,000 hours.”

Spooky Nights will be held Friday and Saturday at the Brooklyn Fairgrounds.

For weeks now, Phillips has hosted groups of volunteers at his home gearing up for the event. Crews have built the large wooden signs that dot many of northeastern Connecticut’s most traveled roads. Then they moved on to the actual event, building the backbones of many of the scenes that will be featured.

Phillips, Recreation Director Bucky Lohbusch and volunteers have been at the Brooklyn Fairgrounds since Sunday getting those pre-built pieces in place. Many of the scenes that make up the wagon ride portion of the event are nearly complete.

Lohbusch said there have been 30 to 40 people working on the setup for the event. The actual event will take about 100 volunteers each night to pull off, he said.

Lohbusch said there are eight scenes the wagons will visit. They will then drop visitors off at the Better Living Barn, where the attraction will continue on foot. Inside the barn, there are three scenes, Lohbusch said. But two of those scenes are actually labyrinths with multiple frights in them.

“The whole thing takes about 45 minutes — if you can get through it all,” Lohbusch said.

For the visitors who don’t want the additional frights of the walk though the Better Living Building, there is an alternate path to the rest of the event. There will also be a child-friendly area and bonfire with food vendors.

Phillips said he and a group of friends recently visited Busch Gardens in Virginia, where the entire park is turned into a Halloween fright fest.

“We stole some of their ideas,” Phillips said. “But, we had to try and figure out how to do it on a small budget.”

Phillips said the first barn scene, which he and another volunteer mapped out in a very detailed way, has surprises at every level. The plan was partly for safety and partly to ensure every opportunity for a fright was maximized. For visitors, that may just mean the scares will keep coming with every step.

“Last year, a teenager actually went to the bathroom in his pants,” Phillips said. “This year, the event is even bigger and better.”

Public works employees George Collelo and Ed Brunsdon got a sampling of the frights Wednesday morning when they were the first to arrive at the Better Living Building. Collelo said it was pitch black in the building and with only his flashlight to guide them, he and Brunsdon encountered some surprises.

“I heard this noise, and (Brunsdon) told me to watch where I was going. Next thing I know there’s this thing crawling towards me,” Collelo said. “It was kind of neat.”